Hello All, I know classifying schools in terms of academic rigor is difficult and very subjective, especially in STEM subjects. However, will you guys please take a stab at ranking the following schools in terms of rigor for computer science and engineering. Again, I know this will not be an exact science (no pun intended) but I have a burned out, stressed out teen and I would like some guidance. Thanks in advance.
The schools are:
Rice
USC
UCLA
UC Santa Barbara
SDSU
Yale
UFlorida
FSU
Northeastern
WPI
Texas AM
Pomona
That’s an impossible answer. Mainly because on subject at a school might be very robust and another not as much. In addition, CS and Engineering are very different from school to school. Guess I’d have to know more about what the student is looking for.
Also, it’s pretty easy to do a broad assessment based on stats. Then you can go in and look at specific programs. Most of the specific threads on schools will give you the info you need also.
I have searched school threads as well as well as stress culture threads. I guess the student vibe regarding the schools is perhaps the most important issue. I have looked at school websites for requirements as well but I’m not a STEM person so I can only roughly gauges the various courses.
One thing to consider is that UCLA and UCSB are on the quarter system, whereas all of the others except WPI are on the semester system. Many classes on the quarter system have a faster pace, particularly stand-alone courses that are not part of a sequence, so it’s difficult to catch up if you fall behind. Additionally, there’s less time between quizzes and exams, which can be stressful for students.
The saying in our house is ‘it’s only stress if you aren’t having fun!’.
Are you equating ‘rigor’ with ‘burned out / stressed out’?
It’s important to separate out the different roots of that burn out. A rigorous course- meaning academically challenging- can be a very happy thing for a student when the work is (to borrow from Maria Montessori) “challenging but achievable”. That exact same course becomes stressful when successful performance is not achievable with any reasonable level of effort, or when the process of doing so is made unpleasant by peers or profs. So, the important thing is knowing what elements suit your teen- and which ones have led to burn out. Schools do have different styles and cultures (which can differ between the engineering school and the rest of the university), so the more you know about what suits this particular teen, the better. Engineering / CS both have a rep for being fairly intensive courses, and imo engineers are born not made: that is it suits your temperament- or it doesn’t.
Purdue, Case Western, URochester, WPI, Olin, UPitt all have good reps for being a collaborative, positive engineering experiences.
Actual rigor comparison could be determined if someone expert in the subject matter could review the syllabus, assignments/projects, and exams for the CS courses at each college.
Some other things could make the college experience more difficult, even though they may not be rigor per se. These include having less grade inflation, or having a highly competitive secondary admission process to get into the major.
It’s an interesting list with schools of very different sizes, cost, academic standards, vibes, location and rankings. He needs to make up his mind about what he wants in a college.
IMHO rigor and stressful/competitive are two different things but smaller and residential community oriented schools tend to offer better environment for thriving even if rigor is higher. Low academic rigor is not necessarily a low stress or nurturing environment.
Among schools on your list, Yale, Rice or Pomona are more suited to offer a nourishing and collaborative community.